FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT DIP - PAGE 3

Recently, I planned and held a small cocktail party in record time for friends from Washington, D.C. I made spring the theme of the party and used some of my new computer skills to create colorful invitations printed in bright shades of green, pink and orange. Next, I worked on the menu. Champagne, the lone beverage I chose to serve, proved to be a smart choice because I didn't have go to the trouble or expense of stocking a full bar. For finger food, I offered skewered scallops on a bed of watercress with a sweet and sour sauce.

Maryland consumers tightened their purse strings and sat out the surprising new-car buying frenzy that swept much of the nation in October, according to figures released yesterday by the state Motor Vehicle Administration.The 1.2 percent decline in new-vehicle sales in the state during October contrasted sharply with the 10 percent boost in car and light truck deliveries nationally."Dealers that I've have talked to said that October was a pretty good month," said Robert C. Russel, president of R&H Motor Cars Ltd. in Owings Mills and chairman of the Maryland New Car and Truck Dealers Association, a trade group representing 320 new-car dealers in the state.

IT TAKES CHUTZPAH to accept an early-retirement buy-out from a $68,400-a-year Baltimore City job and then take a similar high-paying position in another municipal department. Retiring recreation superintendent Bob Wade, the former Dunbar High and University of Maryland basketball coach, almost succeeded in that double-dipping scam. Who can blame a guy for trying?Even more infuriating than Mr. Wade's audacity are the roles his boss, parks and recreation director Marlyn Perritt, and his would-be boss, school superintendent Walter G. Amprey, played in this scheme.

WASHINGTON - New budget projections from congressional analysts and the White House show that the Bush administration is almost certain to violate its promise not to dip into the Social Security surplus to pay the government's bills, prominent economists said yesterday. A White House report last week made clear that only an assortment of accounting changes - described by Democrats as politically motivated gimmicks - would prevent the use of Social Security to make ends meet in the budget during the rest of President Bush's four-year term.

In the early days of dips, every party had the requisite pairing of potato chips and Lipton's Onion Soup mix in sour cream. Now, with so many dip and dipper options, the chips/soup-mix combo is the exception.Dips come hot, cold, sweet, savory, low-fat or unspeakably fattening, and they're paired with everything from apples to zucchini.To help with your spring entertaining, we've rounded up a slew of dips ranging from light and herby to rich and desserty. We even threw in a couple of baked casserole dips.

The Melting Pot restaurant in Columbia offers a delectable dip into fine dining. So lush is its mood, service and cuisine that it is hard to believe that the popular fondue restaurant is part of a chain of franchises throughout the United States. The Melting Pot in Wilde Lake Village Center elevates the fondue pot to haute cuisine, offering a variety of cheese, meat and seafood, and chocolate fondues. Begin and end dinner with a specialty coffee, or sample one of the restaurant's 140 wines.

avocado.org This site from the California Avocado Commission has ideas for Cinco de Mayo entertaining, including a "Guacamole Central" page with plenty of recipes for the holiday's ubiquitous dip. Kate Shatzkin

I live a short distance away from Wabash Discount Liquors in Baltimore's Ashburton neighborhood. If you drive down Sequoia Street to Wabash Avenue heading toward Liberty Heights Avenue you can see and feel a large and very visible dip in the road. The dip is inverted, which leads me to think that the ground underneath is corroded and sinking in. And similar to the street collapse on East 26th Street, the road runs parallel to both the MTA and CSX tracks. My house and the whole neighborhood rumble when the CSX trains go by. Is that a coincidence or is it related to the dip on Wabash Avenue?

By John Lawrence and John Lawrence,McClatchy News Service | July 7, 1991

TACOMA, Wash. -- Former New York Yankees left-hander Ron Guidry was a whiz on the mound, but even more amazing in the clubhouse.Guidry, a Louisiana farm boy, would face the press with a full cheek of chewing tobacco, field the questions politely, and spit into a two-inch soft drink cup, often three or four feet away.His percentage of hits would make the best NBA free-throwers blush.It was the kind of legend that, some think, added color to America's grand old game.At times, it added color to Guidry's complexion.

CHICAGO -- There is a tendency among ballplayers, Orioles catcher Gregg Zaun said, to believe that the use of chewing tobacco and dip won't ever hurt them.Even after Los Angeles Dodgers center fielder Brett Butler was found to have cancer of the tonsils Tuesday, Zaun said, "Everybody thinks, 'that'll never happen to me.' I'll be the first to admit that."Zaun, however, is worried. "Scared," he said.He's trying to break a habit that started 10 years ago, something he compares to a drug addiction -- except that he can satisfy his craving by driving down to the local gas station.